Five Times Percy Missed, and the One Time He Nailed It
by AnotherStoryFan
Summary: We all know that Percy Jackson is far from the best at archery, although he's a good shot when it counts. This is five times Percy failed at archery, and the one time he surpassed all expectations.


**Five Times Percy Missed, and the One Time He Nailed It**

 **Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson. Uncle Rick does.**

The first time he misses his shot, he's practicing at the archery range after the Battle of the Labyrinth. He knows that he killed Geyron by pure luck, and doesn't want to have to rely on a stupid marriage god next time. He holds his bow high and pulls back as far as he can, just like Will told him. He tries to focus on the target and exhales calmly. He releases, hoping for the best, but the arrow sails over the target and hits a nearby tree, causing a dryad to give a frill shriek.

He sighs, cursing his luck. He's going to have to stay out of the woods for a while now, at least until the tree nymphs forgive him. Why can't he be more like the Arrow?

()()()()()

He's on the _Argo II_ , sailing over the Mediterranean, when he misses for a second time. Frank comes up to him and asks for some sword training and Percy accepts. He's just come out of Tartarus, and needs something to get his mind off of his hellish experiences. After about an hour of sparring, Frank gives in and offers to teach him some archery in return. Annabeth's still sleeping, so he has nothing better to do. Besides, he can't resist Frank's still adorable baby face, even though most of its chubbiness is gone.

Frank sets up a makeshift target and fire a demonstration arrow, which naturally hits the middle of the red circle. He hands the bow to Percy, who tries to mimic him, but ends up shooting too much to the left and almost skewers Leo.

"Watch it, Merida!" yells the son of Hephaestus.

Percy wishes he was half as good as the animated redhead.

()()()()()

They say the third time's the charm, but Percy missed anyway. This time, he's with the hunters of Artemis after accidentally running into them at a Barnes and Noble (long story, don't ask). They've been chasing a dozen werewolves for about three hours, and the canines are finally cornered in Central Park. Percy pulls back the string of his silver bow, which he has to use since celestial bronze has no effect on the creatures.

 _Think like Katniss,_ Percy says in his head, _Shoot all the overgrown poodles. Gale is hotter than Peeta. Wait, what?_

Percy shakes his head and wills himself to focus. He lets go of the string and _almost_ hits a wolf in the snout. Cursing, he takes out Thalia's dagger, which she smartly lent him as a backup weapon, and jumps down from the tree he was hiding in.

()()()()()

He's playing a 'friendly' game of capture the flag with the Romans when he misses for the fourth time. The two sides are battling on the _Argo II_ when his sword gets blown out of his hand and into Jason's. He tells Will, who's the closest Greek within a ten feet, to toss him a weapon and he does. It's a bow and one arrow. Percy sighs and shoots randomly. He ends up hitting the head of Festus, causing him to temporarily shut down, and makes Leo really, really mad.

 _Hawkeye probably was probably never burned in some extremely sensitive places,_ he thinks as he tries not to get roasted like blue marshmallows.

()()()()()

The fifth time is the worst. Leo's birthday piñata hasn't been broken by anyone, not even Frank as a charging rhino. Percy spots a really awesome bow lying around in the Hephaestus and shrugs.

 _What's the worst that could happen?_

It's only five feet away, but Percy still somehow manages to miss and hits Chiron. In the rear. After a week of stable duty and a thousand reminders that he was not Legolas, Percy decides he's had enough with archery. Of course, things really didn't go as he planned them to…

()()()()()

He and Annabeth are visiting New Rome when he finally gets a bullseye. They've only been there a few hours when the border guard sounds the alarm, warning the camp of a pack of bloodthirsty cyclopes. Percy and Annabeth volunteer to go along with Frank, and soon they're battling the monsters at the bank of the Little Tiber. Most of them go down easily, but the last two are smarter than the others. Annabeth takes on one by herself, and Percy and Frank take on the other.

The fight drags on, and soon Percy can barely see her from the corner of his eye. The cyclops takes advantage of his distraction, knocks Riptide out of his hands, and the sword is washed away by the current of the Little Tiber. Frank turns into a lion and tries to get in front of the now weaponless Percy, but he's hit with a miniature boulder and collapses in human form. Percy grabs an arrow from Frank's fallen quiver, dodges another boulder, jumps up on the cyclops, and stabs the imperial gold tip into the monster's neck. The one eye widens in surprise before dissolving into dust.

Just as Percy's giving himself a second to catch his breath, he hears Annabeth scream. Riptide hasn't reappeared yet, so he grabs Frank's bow, slings the praetor's quiver over his neck, and runs toward the sound of his beloved's cry.

He spots her, her neck in the viselike grip of the cyclops, dangling three feet above the ground. Her drakon-bone sword lies useless on the ground, and her bloodied face is turning blue. She only has a second, maybe two, before her larynx is crushed by the single-eyed demon. Percy's still fifty feet away, and there's no way he'll reach her in time.

Without thinking, the son of Poseidon nocks an arrow, pulls back the drawstring, and fires. The pointed tip pierces the cyclops' oily skin, and before the beast even realizes what happened, it's turned into golden powder.

Percy rushes over to her and engulfs her in his arms.

"How did you shoot like that?" she asks hoarsely.

Her question is barely registered as he sees the bruises on her throat. Fiery rage consumes him. He wants to bring back the monster to life, just so he can kill it again. Suddenly, guilt washes over him and replaces the anger as he the reality of how close he was to losing her forever sinks in. A few milliseconds more, and she would have lay crumpled and lifeless in his arms. Percy realizes that without her, he can't live. She is a very part of his being, his life force. He makes a silent oath and swears on the River Styx that he will protect her with his life. He doesn't need to be the Arrow, Katniss, Hawkeye, Legolas, or even Merida to do that. He just has to be Percy. Her Percy.

He looks at her brilliant stormy gray eyes and remembers the question she asked him a few seconds ago. He kisses her forehead and gives her the only answer that's relevant:

"Because it was you."

 _Fin_


End file.
